Pushing to the Front
Orison Swett Marden 1894
This collection of motivational essays combines practical advice with stories of people who overcame difficult beginnings. Abraham Lincoln appears among the examples of achievement despite poverty and setbacks.
909 pages 17h 38m reading time
- One of the early classics of American self-help writing about success and building a good life.
- Argues that success depends far more on character, steady effort, and refusing to quit than on talent, luck, or family money.
- Argues that chances to get ahead are all around us, and that people fail mostly because they are not prepared to use them.
- Helped set the pattern for the American success book, mixing pep talk with real-life examples, a style that many later self-help writers followed.
Lost in a fire
Marden's first manuscript burned in a hotel fire, and he had to rewrite the book largely from memory.
Written at night
He wrote it in spare hours while working full time running hotels.
Inspired by Self-Help
As a poor boy, Marden found Samuel Smiles's book Self-Help, which inspired him to write his own.
An instant bestseller
It sold quickly, went through many printings, and was translated into many languages.